Youth group asks: Are there decent jobs for OFW’s going home plus new graduates?

In reaction to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for some 260,000 OFW’s in Kuwait to come home, the youth group Partido Manggagawa-Kabataan (PMK) asked if there are decent jobs awaiting them in the Philippines.

“We welcome our parents coming home from Kuwait so families can be reunited. But are there regular jobs paying living wages for them and the 600,000 new graduates plus thousands more finishing K-12 that won’t go to college? The reason OFW’s go to Kuwait and elsewhere is because of lack of decent jobs in the Philippines,” asserted Kim Dolojo, PMK spokesperson and a PUP student.

Last week, PMK held a protest at the offices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) to highlight its call for decent jobs for young workers.

“President Duterte is again making a personal promise, this time of providing jobs for OFW’s. But he has yet to deliver on his campaign promise two years go to end endo the moment he assumes the presidency. Mr. President, not another broken promise,” Dolojo warned.

She added that “So this Labor Day, PMK members are joining Nagkaisa, KMU and other labor groups is uniting to denounce the administration’s broken promises and demanding regular jobs for Filipinos.”

Dolojo insisted that “In 2016, 78% of the jobless were 15 to 34 years old. Half of them were aged 24 years old or below. A diploma is no antidote to unemployment as 34% of the unemployed had actually gone to college and 20% were college graduates!”

PMK is raising a red flag as the World Bank recently released a report about the lack of quality jobs in the country and the worsening inequality as a result. The group is likewise questioning ECOP for the Jobstreet data that only 24% of employers are willing to hire K-12 graduates.

“An employers organization, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry earlier questioned that the minimum number of hours required of senior high school students are not enough to train and qualify them for entry-level work,” Dolojo explained.

She cited the International Labour Organization (ILO) report titled “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2017: Paths to a better working future,” that stated that youth unemployment rate for Southeast Asia and the Pacific is seen to rise from 11.7 percent in 2016 to 12 percent in 2017, and to 12.2 percent in 2018.

Partido Manggagawa-Kabataan

April 29, 2018

Advisory: Workers to march along Ayala Ave

MEDIA ADVISORY

October 7, 2015

Contact: Wilson Fortaleza @ 09158625229, 09432843919

To observe Decent Work Day and dare pols on wages & jobs:

Workers to march along Ayala Ave

WHAT: March by hundreds of workers under the Nagkaisa labor coalition

WHEN: Today, October 7, 2015; Assembly 3 pm, March 4 pm

WHERE: Assembly @ Makati Fire Station, March along Ayala Ave.

DETAILS: Both to commemorate the global day of decent work and to challenge national candidates on the urgent issues of wage hikes and regular jobs, several hundred members of labor groups under the coalition Nagkaisa will march on Ayala Ave., the country’s leading business district.

Among those marching are contingents from Partido Manggagawa (PM) and PALEA which has launched renewed protests as a result of another mass layoff at Philippine Airlines.

Today's global day for decent work is organized annually by the International Trade Union Confederation and has a theme of “End Corporate Greed” for this year. The call for decent work is given a local flavour by recent survey that the most urgent concerns of Filipino voters are the erosion of wages due to inflation and the generation of regular jobs.

“Enough of motherhood statements and hollow slogans. We dare the presidential candidates to spell out concrete steps in their platforms on addressing the issue of wages and jobs,” insist Rene Magtubo, PM chairperson. ###

Workers to dare pols on wages & jobs issues with a march along Ayala Ave.

Press Release

October 6, 2015

With more candidates declaring their intention to run for national office, the militant labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) challenged politicians to spell out platforms addressing voters’ urgent concerns on the erosion of wages due to inflation and the generation of regular jobs. Several hundred workers from labor groups under the coalition Nagkaisa are marching tomorrow afternoon along Ayala Ave. to dramatize the call for job security and a living wage.

“Everyday we see candidates declaring their intent to run but we hardly hear their platform for workers and the poor. Enough of motherhood statements and hollow slogans. We dare the national candidates to state what concrete steps they will do to resolve the problem of wages and jobs,” insist Rene Magtubo, PM chairperson.

The march is also in observance of Global Decent Work Day, an annual event sponsored by the International Trade Union Confederation to highlight workers demands. Among those marching are contingents from PM and the union PALEA which has launched renewed protests as a result of another mass layoff at Philippine Airlines (PAL).

“Concretely, we are asking candidates to make a stand on the security of tenure bill meant to regulate the abusive practice of contractualization. And also their commitment to raising salaries through a combination of wage hikes, basic goods discounts, tax exemptions and social security subsidies,” Magtubo clarified.

The World Decent Work Day has a theme of “End Corporate Greed” for this year. The call for decent work is given a local flavour by a recent survey that reveals the most pressing issues of Filipino voters are inflation, wages and employment.

“What is the use of economic growth if wages are frozen, and jobs are not enough and contractual in status? Para sa totoong pag-unlad, manggagawa naman! Handa ba ang mga kandidato na salubungin ang Apat na Dapat?,” Magtubo argued.

He listed the Apat na Dapat as “1. Mababang presyo, 2. Sapat na sweldo, 3. Regular na trabaho,  at 4. Matinong serbisyo publiko.”

“In PAL, more than 5,500 workers have been retrenched in a series of mass layoffs since 1998 and they were all replaced by agency contractuals in a brutal outsourcing scheme meant to bust unions. Yesterday contractuals, called talents, in GMA-7 won their regularization case. This followed a similar move in 2010 by ABS-CBN talents for recognition as regular workers. From malls to factories to offices, contractuals are supplanting regulars. So we ask the candidates, ok ba silang endo pa more?,” Magtubo ended.

Bacoor urban poor rally against demolition threat

Press Release

April 8, 2015

Some 100 members of four urban poor groups based in Brgy. Longos, Bacoor, Cavite held a protest rally yesterday against the threat of demolitions due to private and public projects in their communities. The militant Partido Manggagawa is supporting the urban poor fight for decent housing and livelihood.

Tonette Fajanilan, an urban poor leader and a Partido Manggagawa coordinator in Bacoor, said that “Inclusive growth should mean the right to affordable housing and the provision of social cost into the project cost of public development plans. We hope for a negotiated settlement to the threat of demolition so that there is no mis-encounter moreso a bloody war. We do not oppose social progress but we demand that social justice be integral to development.”

The urban poor marched from a nearby assembly point to the Bacoor municipal trial court (MTC). They picketed while an MTC hearing was held on the eviction case against 23 families living in a lot claimed by a brother of Bacoor Mayor Strike Revilla. The lot is near the proposed LRT depot and station in Bacoor.

The 23 families in the rally were joined by other Bacoor residents who are affected by the LRT project and the clean up of the Manila Bay that was ordered by the Supreme Court in a writ of mandamus. The Supreme Court on December 18, 2008, issued a writ of continuing mandamus directing 13 government agencies to clean up, rehabilitate and eventually preserve Manila Bay within 10 years. Meanwhile the LRT extension line from Baclaran, Paranaque to Bacoor, Cavite has been awarded to an Ayala consortium.

“This is not just a fight for housing but also for livelihood. In our communities, we have not just built our simple homes but also our informal jobs. The problem of informal settlers is intertwined with the question of lack of jobs,” explained Fajanilan.

She added that “Our appeal for affordable housing and decent jobs is not much specially in comparison to the multibillion costs of development projects like the LRT extension and Manila Bay cleanup. We believe our fight is in line with the challenge of Pope Francis to reform the structures that perpetuate poverty and exclusion of the poor.”

No ultimate Yolanda recovery without stable employment - labor group

PRESS RELEASE

08 November 2014

The government in many aspects of the Yolanda relief and rehabilitation is a miserable failure.  A major element of the rehabilitation program where it failed the most is job creation, the local group of Partido Manggagawa (PM) in Tacloban said in a statement.

“No ultimate recovery will take place in Yolanda avenue without jobs and livelihood opportunities for its people,” asserted Judy Torres the party’s spokesman in the region.

The group had been calling for the government to make employment a priority in the Yolanda rehabilitation program.   Torres drives and operates a tricycle in Tacloban prior to Yolanda. He heads the city’s federation of tricycle drivers and operators.

According to Torres, PM and other labor groups in the region under Tingog have submitted petitions and participated in several dialogues with concerned government agencies.  “But concrete response come too slow and in trickles,” said Torres.

The labor group said the people of Leyte and Samar were manifestly strong and resilient to survive the 365 punishing days after Yolanda, “but were too tired to countenance another year without jobs or regular sources of income.”

Torres said that most of the region’s working people, particularly those who lost their formal jobs and those who lost their means of livelihood in the informal economy, survive on temporary employment provided by the government, the private sector and NGO-sponsored programs. 

“But these jobs are by nature temporary, 15 days at most under a government program, thus neither these provide a feeling of security nor lift the spirits and dignity of the hapless victims of Yolanda.  And the sad part of it is realizing that at the end of these programs, a jobless reality takes over,” lamented Torres.

Employment figures in Leyte is invisible since it was excluded in the Labor Force Survey (LFS) since April 2014.   The 2013 LFS prior to Yolanda put the unemployment rate in Eastern Visayas at 5.4% and 25.2% underemployment. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that some 19,000 workers lost their jobs to Yolanda in November last year.

The group said the government could have transformed the crisis into an employment opportunity in the areas of agriculture, mass housing, healthcare, reconstruction and infrastructure, power and transportation, green jobs, and the expansion of public service industry.  Had it been done this way, the government would have had a clear framework that centers on employment. 

In addition, the government could have demanded more money or reparation from industrial nations who are responsible for climate crisis, to ensure the country’s fast and sustainable recovery.

Tucuma residents welcome suspension of demolitions but wants moratorium extended till housing program reformed

Press Release

April 28, 2012

Tucuma Federation

The residents of the depressed community of Tucuma in Barangay Merville, Parañaque who have been preparing to fight off an eviction heaved a sigh of relief and welcomed the temporary suspension of demolitions ordered by DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo hours after they held a rally and sought a dialogue with his office yesterday.

“We however call on Sec. Robredo to extend the moratorium till the housing and even jobs policy of the government is reviewed and reformed,” Ramil Asturias, Tucuma Federation president said. This was in reaction to reports that the suspension will only last until the regulations on demolitions are assessed and affirmed.

Leaders of Tucuma Federation together with residents of NIA compound in Quezon City and West Bicutan who face similar land disputes staged the rally and were met with a DILG official named Clarion Paz-Tanghal who received the letter on behalf of Sec. Robredo. Asturias appealed to Robredo to facilitate negotiations between Tucuma Federation, the landowner Molave Development Corporation and Parañaque  Mayor Florencio Bernabe.

Renato Magtubo, Partido ng Manggagawa chairperson, supported Asturias’ position and said that “Suspending demolitions until new rules are drafted merely scratches the surface of the problem. The government needs to address the root cause of lack of housing for the poor. The housing program is tied up with the jobs and wages policy. The low wages in the country, as attested by a recent report of the ILO, means that the poor have barely enough income for food much less rent or amortization on housing.”

Magtubo announced that a long march or Lakbayan from Calabarzon to Manila will be held on the eve of Labor Day and banner the call “Stop to demolitions, Housing and jobs for all.” Some 400 workers, youth and poor from Cavite, Laguna and Batangas will march from Zapote early in the morning of April 30 then merge with a contingent from Metro Manila by 3:00 p.m. in Baclaran and stay overnight at the Holy Trinity Church in Balic-Balic. On May 1, the “Lakbayan para sa Pabahay at Trabaho” will join the huge 20,000-strong “historic” rally by the newly-formed Nagkaisa, which unites the country’s major labor center for the first time since the 1980’s.

Magtubo revealed that the number of informal settlers was estimated at half a million families by a HUDCC study in 2007 while the housing backlog is assumed to be 3.7 million units. “Tucuma’s fight is the fight of all. Decent housing is a right not a privilege of all Filipinos. Violent evictions must be prohibited. Land disputes must be resolved through negotiations without the threat of violence, deceit or bribery. Residents must be relocated to better living conditions to ensure that negotiations end peacefully in agreement,” he insisted.

PALEA: Job security cannot be bought for P1M

Press Release
November 4, 2010

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) asserted that they are fighting for job security and are not bargaining for higher separation pay. Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa vice chairperson, stated that “Job security is priceless and cannot be bought by P1 million worth of separation. Such entitlements may well be above the separation pay mandated by law and our collective bargaining agreement but it nonetheless cannot provide for a decent life to those facing the prospect of long-term unemployment.”

He added that “A regular job that provides decent wages, substantial benefits, security of tenure and the protection of a union should not be an impossible dream. It is simply the best way for PAL to share the fruits of its employees’ labor. It is the kind of best practice a national flag carrier must adopt.”

PALEA countered claims by DOLE and PAL that none of the affected employees will be jobless. “All the employees to be retrenched by PAL may be absorbed by the service providers but only as contractuals. We are not assured of being regular workers in the service providers. In fact since the service providers can lay us off after only a few months, Baldoz ruling provides that PAL guarantee the wages of those affected for one year. As contractuals, we would enjoy no security of tenure and thus can be legally fired at the whim of the service providers. Without a union, we would have no protection and no voice as employees in the service providers,” Rivera explained.

He insisted that “We will be doing exactly the same work at the service providers but for cheaper wages, fewer benefits, no security of tenure and no protection of a union. Where is the justice in that? If this is not contractualization, then what is it?”

PALEA also slammed PAL President Jaime Bautista for “engaging in doublespeak.” “It is PAL workers not management who are being forced to swallow the bitter bill. PAL is faking it when it laments the heavy burden of the additional P500 million in separation pay ordered by Labor Sec. Baldoz. These artificial sweeteners to the poison are simply PAL’s slightly improved offer disguised as Baldoz’ order,” Rivera argued.

PALEA called on its “brothers and sisters in the labor movement and allies in civil society” for solidarity. “The fight for job security at PAL is the fight of all workers. The decision sets a dangerous precedent for it will open the floodgates to massive contractualization in all companies big and small. All Filipinos will be poorer when we become a nation of contractuals,” Rivera averred.

Presidentiables asked for jobs policy as unemployment to rise with new graduates

Press Release
March 23, 2010

The labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) challenged the presidentiables to reveal their jobs policy as unemployment is expected to rise by April with the influx of new graduates to the labor force.

“We ask the presidentiables to present a jobs policy that will address the grave problem of unemployment in general and youth joblessness in particular Of the estimated half a million graduates this March, more than 90,000 will not be able to find work despite investing four or five years and a fortune in a college education,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

Magtubo issued his challenge during the PM national congress that is being held at the Oblates Missionary Center in Quezon City. The two-day congress ends today with the election of five nominees from among 120 delegates from different chapters nationwide.

Magtubo based his assertion on the National Statistics Office’s (NSO) April 2005 unemployment data of 18.5% for graduates. “Despite possessing a shiny new college diploma, graduates are only marginally better off than undergraduates whose unemployment rate is 21%,” he added.

To generate decent jobs, PM is advocating a short-term program of massive public employment program and a long-term reorientation of economic and trade policy away from liberalization. “The present emergency employment program must be made more widespread to employ millions but should also be reformed. People’s organizations not local politicians must administer the public employment program so that it will not be used for patronage and it must promote decent work instead of worsening contractualization. But a strategic jobs policy demands the political will to reverse liberalization, deregulation and privatization, and to uphold domestic industry and agriculture,” Magtubo explained.

Magtubo furthered that “The graduates of 2010 are only 12% of the 100 school age kids approximately 14 years ago who have survived the education system. Of these 12 out of 100, seven will take a licensure exam but only three will pass. Of the three, only one will find profession that fits his or her education. The rest will find work that has nothing to do with their college course.”

Labor party-list warns joblessness awaits graduates

Press Release
March 17, 2010

The labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) warned that joblessness awaits the new graduates who will be entering the labor force come April. “Of the estimated half a million graduates this March, more than 90,000 will not be able to find work despite investing four or five years and a fortune in a college education. We challenge the presidentiables to present a jobs policy that will address the grave problem of unemployment in general and youth joblessness in particular,” stated Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

Magtubo’s figures are a projection of the National Statistics Office’s (NSO) April 2005 unemployment data of 18.5% for graduates. “Despite possessing a shiny new college diploma, graduates are only marginally better off than undergraduates whose unemployment rate is 21%,” he added.

PM meanwhile criticized the latest NSO employment figures for “propagating myths instead of truths.” Magtubo argued that “Unemployment has been kept magically low by removing from the labor force those who have already been discouraged from looking for work and even those who keep on looking for work but have not found any for more than six months. Starting in 2005, by a mere redefinition of terms, one million Filipinos have been taken off from the unemployment rolls and the government can claim that unemployment has come down from the historical average of 10% to the current 7%.”

PM is advocating a short-term program of massive public employment program and a long-term reorientation of economic and trade policy away from liberalization to generate decent jobs. “The present emergency employment program must be made more widespread to employ millions but should also be reformed. People’s organizations not local politicians must administer the public employment program so that it will not be used for patronage and it must promote decent work instead of worsening contractualization. But a strategic jobs policy demands the political will to reverse liberalization, deregulation and privatization, and to uphold domestic industry and agriculture,” Magtubo said.

Magtubo furthered that “The graduates of 2010 are only 12% of the 100 school age kids approximately 14 years ago who have survived the education system. Of these 12 out of 100, seven will take a licensure exam but only three will pass. Of the three, only one will find profession that fits his or her education. The rest will find work that has nothing to do with their college course.”

PM is calling on the youth and the graduates to be critical and vote for candidates who have a concrete program to address unemployment. The party-list group is campaigning on a platform of “Apat na Dapat,” which means regular jobs, decent wages, affordable housing and universal healthcare coverage.